British writer

the next day,

early morning.

When Lu Shi got up, he found Wodehouse still sitting in the armchair, huddled together.

His eyes were blood red, and he looked like he had stayed up all night.

Lu Shi stepped forward,

"Jazz, are you awake?"

Wodehouse raised his head and looked at Lu with confused eyes. He gradually focused and replied: "Ah? Is it already morning? Then I really didn't sleep."

He rubbed his eyes and turned off the small reading light.

"Can you help me open the curtains?"

Lu Shi did as he was told, and then said, "Do you want to continue reading?"

Wodehouse nodded, then shook his head and yawned widely.

"You're already awake, I might as well ask you."

He shook the "Harvard Magazine" and asked: "It mentioned a prime minister named Sen, about his deeds..."

Lu Shi corrected: "The surname is Shen, Shen Shixing."

Wodehouse opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time and then gave up.

"This pronunciation is a bit difficult for me. In short, you know who I am talking about. Is this prime minister equivalent to the prime minister?"

Lu Shi scratched his head,

"You... can't compare."

Wodehouse continued: "This prime minister knows that in order for the country to function, the civil service group must be united and the relationship between the civil servants and the emperor must be well established. Only in this way can the country's governance be implemented. So, my understanding is, The civil service group is the affairs officer of Great Britain, and the prime minister is the cabinet minister.”

Lu Shi: "..."

I didn't expect that "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" could be understood so well.

He asked curiously: "So?"

"so?"

Wodehouse looked at the book, lost in thought,

For some reason, he felt something in his heart:

Britain is the Ming Dynasty!

Ming Dynasty is Britain!

Because there are so many similarities between the two civil service systems. They all compromise, compromise, and compromise again.

The final outcome is to get a bunch of tinkers,

Tinkering with small things, muddle along,

As for major events, he has always turned a blind eye, as Lu Shi said in "Yes!" The joke about the fourth level of statecraft written in "Prime Minister":

In the first stage, we claim that nothing happened;

The second stage is to say that something might happen, but we’d better wait and see what happens;

Stage 3, saying maybe we should act, but we can’t do anything;

Stage 4: Maybe something could have been done, but now it's too late.

Wodehouse could not help but mutter:

"It looks like! It's so similar!"

Lu Shi:? ? ?

"like what?"

Wodehouse shook his head and changed the subject: "Lu, another prime minister mentioned in the book, the one named Zang..."

Lu Shi opened his mouth, held back, and did not correct the other party.

Wodehouse was able to continue,

"Although that prime minister was smart and capable and could solve various problems, he still failed because he pushed the entire civil service to the opposite side. It is not easy to make a country strong and strengthen its army and implement reforms by working alone."

Lu Shi was curious,

"Sir, you seem to have a lot of emotions."

Wodehouse did not answer.

Lu Shi didn't feel like saying anything more, so he asked instead: "Sir, do you like "The Insignificant Year 1587" very much?"

More than just like it!

Wodehouse said: "The good thing about this book is that you can find various reflections."

Lu Shi was confused,

"ah?"

When he wrote his own book, he didn't think about reflecting anything.

It is true that the original author Huang Renyu seems to be writing about the Ming Dynasty, but in fact he is writing about modern times. However, China has not yet developed to the stage of the old democratic revolution, so how can it be reflected?

Lu Shi said: "Sir, what did you see in this book?"

Wodehouse saw the sunset of the empire on which the sun never sets,

But it was impossible for him to say it out loud. He just smiled and pointed at the other person with his finger and said, "You, pretend to be confused."

Lu Shi was really confused.

He scratched his head,

"that……"

Wodehouse waved his hand and interrupted: "You have a speech later, how are you preparing for it?"

Lu Shi is no stranger to giving speeches.

“At LSE, I taught a lot.”

Wodehouse sighed;

"This place is different from London. The entire London Political Science and Economics basically regards you as an idol, especially the group of students who conduct questionnaires. Their worship of you is comparable to a cult. But the United States is different. There is already a prejudice against Chinese people. Moreover, your book..."

As he spoke, he lowered his voice,

"I heard that many people are dissatisfied with the way "The Insignificant 1587" was written. They can accept your interdisciplinary writing style similar to "Guns, Germs, and Steel," but what they don't agree with is your view of history."

"Tsk..."

Lu Shi couldn't help but be speechless.

In France, the pioneer historian Feivre was already preparing to form the Annales School to compete with the Ranke School.

The United States is actually relatively conservative.

Lu Shi stretched himself.

"The soldiers will block it, the water will cover it, and the soil will cover it. This is the only way."

Wodehouse gave no further advice;

"Let's go."

Lu Shi said, "You haven't slept all night, why not take a rest in the house."

Wodehouse shook his head;

"No, I am very curious about the level of Harvard students and want to see what kind of questions they can ask. At the same time, I also want to know how you are going to answer. Besides, I have never missed breakfast since I came to the United States."

Not just breakfast,

Wodehouse never misses three meals a day and afternoon tea.

Lu Shi said, "Okay, it's up to you."

The two left the room together.

They had breakfast and hung out until nine in the morning, and then headed to the auditorium together.

The old and hardy headmaster, Charles William Eliot, was waiting.

When he saw Lu Shi, he slowly came up to him,

"Professor Lu, it is really a blessing for our school to have you come to Harvard University to give a speech."

This is certainly a compliment.

It was impossible for Lu Shi to get dizzy with just a few words of flattery. He smiled and said, "I'm flattered to be invited."

Elliot smiled and glanced at Theodore, who was sitting in the first row.

Today's vice president wore formal attire and looked very majestic.

Elliot nodded to Lu Shi,

"start?"

Lu Shi replied: "I'm ready."

Eliot then walked onto the stage.

He has been the president of Harvard University since 1869. He is very popular among students. After standing up, the crowd below was instantly quiet.

He cleared his throat,

"Today, with the efforts of many parties, especially Vice President Roosevelt, we are fortunate to have Professor Lu from London Political and Economics come to give us a speech. Welcome to everyone."

There was sparse applause below.

Elliot frowned and said word by word: "Welcome - welcome -"

He raised his right hand in Lu Shi's direction.

Seeing the principal getting angry, the applause from below became enthusiastic.

Lu Shi walked onto the podium.

Seeing how young he was, the students below couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Devin whispered: "Is this still a student?"

Franklin said: "You are right. Professor Lu was indeed an overseas student sent to Britain by the Qing Dynasty. However, because of his strong ability, he was hired as a visiting professor by the London School of Economics and Political Science."

From an international student to a professor, it can be said that you reach the sky in one step.

Devin was surprised,

"There are times when Britain can be eclectic?"

Franklin laughed.

At this time, Lu Shi on the podium spoke up: "Gentlemen, the title of my speech today is "The Gains and Losses of the World University Rankings." This is also the main purpose of my invitation to visit Harvard University in the United States."

As soon as this statement came out, the discussion below became even louder.

"Did you hear his accent?"

"Yeah, pretty standard."

"Strange, he is from England, why is he so familiar with American pronunciation?"

…

In fact, the American phonetic notation was not created until the middle of the 20th century.

But at this moment, the pronunciation of English in the United States is very different from that in the United Kingdom. It is more mellow and not so strict and precise.

Even Wodehouse was surprised;

"I didn't expect Lu to have such a skill."

Lu Shi ignored the confusion below and continued his speech:

"There is no doubt that the world university rankings can promote the internationalization of higher education. Now, more and more students regard studying abroad as an important way to promote their own development. Under this circumstance, the university rankings can have an impact on the university by using some indicators. Evaluate relative levels to provide students with more comprehensive and comparable information about colleges and universities.”

This sentence is half true and half false,

Are universities participating in rankings for students?

Lu Shi didn't even believe it when he told it.

But after all, it is a speech, so you should say more content, otherwise you will not be a professor, but a politician.

The speech was mainly divided into two parts, namely the positive impact and negative impact of the world university rankings, which lasted about forty minutes.

Because what he said was indeed meaningful, the students below gave him applause from time to time.

After the presentation it’s time for questions.

Elliot said, "If you have any questions, just ask."

Then he returned to the first row and sat down.

Immediately someone shouted below: "Have Professor Lu considered what to use as a ranking indicator? How to allocate weights among various indicators?"

As soon as this person finished asking, boos broke out from below.

"Just ask useless questions!"

"You're not the one who was hired by the British, are you?"

"Shut up now!"

…

The student who asked the question couldn't help but blush.

Lu Shi knew that this student was most likely arranged by Theodore.

He replied solemnly: "The indicators should include peer evaluation in the academic field, reputation of the board of directors, teacher-student ratio, number of citations of faculty papers, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio. As for the issue of weight..."

He fell into deep thought,

a long time,

"This matter requires a lot of weighing. For example, excessive pursuit of increasing the total literature index score may lead to colleges and universities rushing for quick success in pursuit of increased article publications, citations, etc., blindly expanding the size of the school, and forcing more teachers. Academic output. Scientific research and academics have their own laws. In fact, the more research is at the forefront of the industry, the more it requires long-term support from the school. It is difficult for them to produce output in the short term, or the output is relatively small..."

After Lu Shi finished speaking, there was an eerie silence below.

Eliot was surprised: "I didn't expect Professor Lu to have such an understanding of academics. It's really rare."

Wodehouse smiled;

"Sometimes, I always feel like he's a person who was born with knowledge."

Elliot's eyes flickered, and when he looked at Lu Shi, there was a hint of desire in his eyes.

Wodehouse sensed something was wrong;

"Mr. President, there is a saying in China that 'a gentleman does not take away what others like'. Professor Lu is now a member of the London School of Economics. He has both status and income in the UK. It is impossible for him to come to Harvard to take up a teaching position. You don't want to do more. think."

Elliot tilted his head.

"What is a 'gentleman'?"

"Forehead……"

Wodehouse was really stunned.

He could only reluctantly explain: "A gentleman is a person with good moral character."

Eliot shrugged.

"That's okay. I'm not a gentleman, I'm an American."

"puff!"

Wodehouse burst into laughter.

At this time, Lu Shi had already finished answering the questions and said: "In short, the World University Ranking is a survey project and a consulting project. If the weight of each indicator is inappropriate, the authority will inevitably be damaged."

He waved his hand,

"Next question."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone stood up directly.

"Professor Lu, I am the editor of Harvard University's Crimson Newspaper. Can I ask a question?"

Lu Shi: "..."

He was a little dazed because the other person was another Roosevelt.

Great Depression,

World War II,

Yalta Conference,

…

Also, lame.

Franklin coughed lightly,

"Professor Lu?"

Lu Shi came back to his senses and said, "Okay, you can ask."

Franklin said seriously: "Professor Lu, are you from the Qing Dynasty?"

Lu Shi raised his eyebrows,

"When I went to study abroad, the Qing government didn't pay my fees, so I usually said I was Chinese."

Instantly, the scene was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

The atmosphere was ignited,

Several students applauded.

They just like to watch the fun.

Airut was speechless and said to Wodehouse: "Sir, is Professor Lu like this in the UK? Does he choke so hard?"

Wodehouse said: "He's pretty restrained."

Theodore on the other side saw that his cousin was being attacked by Lu Shi. He was not anxious at all. Instead, he had the mentality of watching a show. He leaned over and said, "As far as I know, Professor Lu is not a loser." Lord. On the ship to New York, he... hum..."

Eliot wondered,

"how?"

As a result, Theodore spoke half-way, whetting others' appetites and not responsible for extinguishing the fire. Instead, he said: "Let's not talk about this for now."

In Eliot's mind, ten thousand grass-mud horses were racing past.

And Franklin started to ask questions: "Professor Lu, don't judge him right or wrong. As far as I know, the Qing Dynasty was a feudal country with a hereditary system. How can we believe that people from this country can be in charge of the world university rankings? Will it be fair? ?"

The aggression is directly maxed out.

The students from Harvard University below saw the excitement and started to boo like crazy.

Someone stamped their feet, and more people joined in,

Boom boom boom——

It felt like the floor was about to collapse.

Lu Shi raised the corners of his mouth,

Hey, Americans.

He raised his hands to signal everyone to be quiet,

"The answer to this question is very simple. I want to ask, is the United States a patrimonial country?"

These words are also provocative.

The students fought back in various ways, and some even uttered curse words.

Lu Shi raised his voice: "Quiet!"

After speaking, he looked at Franklin and continued: "Sir, your surname should be Roosevelt, right? The cousin of the current Vice President of the United States? Then, let me ask you a question, are you ready to enter politics?"

A sharp counterattack!

Franklin couldn't help but be speechless, because he couldn't answer Lu Shi's question at all.

The noise from below became even louder.

"Answer him!"

"Answer him!"

"Answer him!"

…

Franklin had no choice but to say tactfully: "I never set limits on myself for the future."

Little naughty guy!

Lu Shi smiled and said: "Then it is possible for you to join politics. If you join politics, will you be considered hereditary?"

Franklin once again had no answer.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shi gave the answer directly:

"It doesn't count. Of course it doesn't count."